On All Frequencies

Subatomic Sound System – On All Frequencies
Reviewed by Sadie O., 2/19/07
Reggae / hip hop / dancehall / electronica from NYC. Clearly, we’re going to be hearing a lot of this kind of cross-genre mashup from big crews with lots of various kinds of vocalists. Generally positive and thoughtful lyrics. First half of CD is essentially hip hop / dance, second half is generally reggae (and IMO much better!)
Sounds like FCCs on track 6. I like 9 best, 10 and 11 good also.
1. 1:28 **gradual electronics intro, dubby slightly uptempo skank with random talking.
2. 3:27 *random intro with female talking, downtempo sparse dancehall riddim, female hip hop / modern R&B vocals, most music drops out for last 30 secs.
3. 5:37 *slow build into downtempo hip hop riddim, dual female vocals. Long outro.
4. 3:40 ***strong midtempo dancehall riddim with male vocals. Abrupt ending.
5. 4:13 ***pretty midtempo, relaxed dancehall, strong female singer.
6. 4:23 FCCs “shit” “fuck” **strong downtempo electronic hip hop, female rappers.
7. 4:06 *spoken female intro with helicopter noises, snaky bass-driven hip hop riddim, female vocals. Long outro.
8. 5:02 ***keyboard intro, into great midtempo stepping razor skank, female singer. Lots of bloopy bits. About 20 seconds of hand drumming at outro.
9. 4:22 *****downtempo electronic skank with melodica, huge amounts of echo. Cool middle-eastern-inspired tune, instrumental.
10. 5:39 ****bit of Jamaican talking intro, midtempo bouncy dub, male singing and chorus.
11. 3:40 ****drum beats and Jamaican preaching intro, midtempo dancehall with big drums, male singing and rapping. Great sound.
12. 5:17 *female singing and random noises intro. Downtempo slinky groove with lots of electronica, stops and starts.
13. 5:53 ***long random intro, then very slow electronic heartbeat riddim with lots of echo and electronica, male vocals.
14. 4:33 *bloops, then jazzy electronic bits, then complex slightly uptempo percussion and odd noises.